Breathe Again
by CharmingSauce
Summary: A series of one-shot studies on the pairing 6996 Mukuro/Chrome using themes from 100 Theme Picture Challenge by dA's Firestormthepoet. Other pairings maybe implied.
1. Breathe Again

**Breathe Again**

_Theme #10 from Firestormthepoet_'s 100-Theme Picture Challenge _on dA_.

The beeping sounds were stopping. Nagi's eyes were beginning to role back behind her head. Her parents were standing behind the glass just waiting for the inevitable news. They had failed her. They had failed her as parents, and had betrayed her many times.

Nagi wanted out of the large house she was in. She wanted out of the very house she was ignored. She wanted out of the house where her mother and father admitted their affairs in front of each other and never even bother to separate. They kept together because it was the only thing they knew. And Nagi did not want that. She wanted parents who would care for her if only just for a little while.

She wanted parents who would care for her even though it was fake and an illusion. She did not care who saved her, because as soon as a savior came by she would soon cling to them. No matter if they murdered her parents. No matter if she had to fake her own death. She wanted to leave.

Her final words as the beeping sounds slowed even further were, "Mukuro-sama." Then there was a very long beep, and the doctors around her, though marveled at whom this Mukuro could be crowded Nagi.

The woman behind the glass clasped her hands, so suddenly. The very woman who had betrayed the young girl named Nagi. The very woman, who never bothered to hide the fact she was cheating on her husband to her daughter, had tears welling in her eyes. They soon overflowed and tears began nonstop. Next to her the very man, who never bothered to hide the fact he was also cheating on his wife to his daughter, turned his head to hide the shame. A silent anger began to burn inside of him as he shook off his wife's attempts for consolation and her awakening into motherhood.

A ghost form of Nagi stood there a little ways from the crowd of doctors surrounding her body, taking in the very strange sight in front of her. There was no love in her eyes, only pity as she looked on. It took them thirteen years and the death of their only child to realize they failed for people and as parents to Nagi. She continued to stand there, in wait for her savior to finally give her hope and the new reason to breathe again. She clenched her fists at her sides.

"Yeah right, like you will," she said, softly. Tears formed in her ghost form's eye. How could she trust anyone else in this world, when the people a child should trust betrayed her so many times?

"Then why are you still standing there in wait?" a voice was heard behind her. Her eye widened, and she turned to see the very person she will cling to for life. "Why are you still standing there in wait while you could always find the door to the afterlife?" His lips were curved in a tender smile, though his mix-matched eyes told her different.

Nagi's eye narrowed at him, challenging him. She turned her head in the direction of her physical form. Then craned her head towards the indigo haired male. They looked at one another for a bit, but Mukuro's lips curved into a smirk and he turned towards Nagi's physical form. He shook his head.

"Believe in me, my dearest Nagi, for despite my past actions I will care far more than they ever will," Mukuro said, his spirit form's hand touching Nagi's physical form. Nagi's spirit form stood beside him, looking up at him.

"Then I will breathe again, but only for you," she said, quietly, placing a hand over Mukuro's. She closed her eyes. Mukuro's right eye changed to certain path of Hell before the insertion of his power to young girl.

"Breathe again, my dearest Nagi," Mukuro said, watching as Nagi and his spirit forms disappeared into Nagi's body.

The area of caved-in abdomen began to rise back into a healthy bulge as Mukuro's power filled the girl's body. The long beep broke up again into serial, annoying beeps. The doctors around her relaxed, and so did her parents. However, what they did not know was the fact that Nagi no longer existed. In place of her was a girl named Chrome Dokuro, an apprentice of a dangerous criminal and a powerful illusionist.

"All clear."

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn, and if I lied and say I did, there are quite a number of fans that would shoot or stab me. If I did own Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn I would make Mukuro and Chrome a cannon pairing.

**Note:** This fic will contain mostly the 6996 pairing.


	2. Orly

**02. Orly?**

Theme #24

For days upon the resuscitation of Nagi, the thirteen year old girl was said to be seen wondering the night. Some who have seen her saw a red glow coming from the eye she lost. She had been transferred to another hospital room. No one could understand the miracle that took place within the ICU ward. No one could reason the phenomenon that allowed the girl's stomach to rise again from missing its organs. No one believed what allowed the girl to live.

A nurse holding a clipboard was seen in the doorframe, looking at the girl resting comfortably against a mountain of pillows. She was smiling outside, enjoying the sunshine on her face. "There is a visitor for you, Nagi-chan," she said, sweetly. "He has asked your parents if he could take you home."

The girl stayed silent.

The nurse sighed. As her work friends said, the girl would just ignore you until _that_ person came into the room. Then you would be dismissed, being asked to call the girl by what was it again? Ku…ro…mu? Chrome?

A dirty-blonde construction worker walked into the room. He looked down at her, somewhat disappointed at the girl's rudeness towards the nurse.

"Dokuro-san, should you not say 'thank-you' to the nurse?" he asked.

The purple haired girl turned and looked at the nurse and then at the construction worker in what looked to be a daze. She simply nodded at the nurse. There was a faint red glow from under the hair that covered her right eye. She smiled, which the construction worker immediately recognized to be Rokudo Mukuro's smile.

"Thank you, miss. You may leave. Thank you for your services," the girl said in a dialect different from her usual.

The nurse's face nodded and quickly walked away from the doorframe, leaving the dirty blonde and the purple haired kid to themselves. The man crossed his arms over his chest.

"What have you done to the girl named 'Nagi', Rokudo Mukuro?" he demanded.

Mukuro-Chrome smiled. "Kufufufu…She is another of my vessels. Do not worry; I will take very good care of this child. More so than her parents," Mukuro-Chrome said. "There is something you want to talk about. This is perhaps the safest place for such. After all you are on list of people I want to kill."

"I have your precious accomplices trapped with no escape from their base," the dirty blonde said.

Mukuro-Chrome grinned and laughed. "Very well then, and the deal?"

"I have something to ask of you. Only if you promise me safety at your base, and while doing so, Rokudo-san, I will promise the safety of your newest vessel."

"Oh really? And you would trust me of all people to keep that promise?"

The dirty blonde's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do."

"Kufufu… if it is the safety of my vessels then I will not kill you yet. Though you are but a fool, just like your son, Sawada-san," Mukuro-Chrome said. And with that, Chrome Dokuro, or rather Nagi was released from the hospital.


	3. Introduction

**03. Introduction**

_#1 Introduction_

The purple haired girl had kept mostly to herself as she sat there on a window's ledge just a little ways from Mukuro's sofa. In her hands was her knapsack and inside it held the important part of her master's trident. The Vongola had nursed her back to health by the request of her master. Today, she was dropped off at Kokuyo Land where she would meet her master's most trusted accomplices. However, they were not done with school.

The Vongola had paid for Chrome Dokuro's tuition into the school near Kokuyo Land where Mukuro's accomplices attended. Therefore, Mukuro's promise of benevolence was needed. 'Begrudgingly promised' was what Chrome described it as she imagined herself stroking Mukuro's hair. Mukuro accepted such a description with a small smile, which Chrome could not help but smile back.

However, the sweet image of the flower field and Mukuro's head resting on her lap was destroyed with a loud slam. Chrome turned her head towards two male figures staring at her. Her hair was cut and styled almost identically to her master's. It was quite obvious Mukuro had picked out most of Chrome's wardrobe. Even if Chrome disliked her master spoiling her.

"Who the hell are you?" a blonde shouted pointing at Chrome.

"Ken, she could be the vessel promised to us by Mukuro," a dark haired male said, calmly, adjusting his glasses.

Chrome's eyes lit up at the sound of her master's name. She was still somewhat weary of him, but she had come to admire him a bit while healing at the Vongola base in Namimori.

"My name is Chrome," the girl said once she inwardly felt Mukuro's hand of reassurance. "Chrome Dokuro. I am here by Mukuro-sama's request."

"So you are his new vessel," the dark haired male said, calmly.

"I don't give a shit who you are. You're not Mukuro," Ken said to the girl.

Chrome stood up. "Well, your only contact with him now is through me," she said, with a small voice. She bowed towards the two. "Please to meet you," and with that she let her master tell her where she will stay.

"Just as I suspected," the dark haired male said.

"Chikusa, you're not thinking of accepting this, are you?" Ken asked angrily.

"It is something Mukuro would do, so yes I would. Though, we should learn to also accept his vessels," Chikusa said. "I'm going to get some take-out. So don't antagonize Dokuro-san."

Ken merely scoffed at him, shoving his hands in his pockets.

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Meanwhile in Chrome's room, which was connected to Mukuro's, Chrome leaned her head back against the wall. She closed her eye only to see Mukuro's tender look towards her. Around her were flowers. Chrome saw Mukuro chuckling and could not help but smile a little.

"Oya…oya…So much for an introduction," he said. Chrome could not agree more.


	4. Solitude

**Note:** I'm trying to do my best to keep everything in order, but I know that I will mess up. I'm not happy with this chapter but it will do for now.

**Theme Number**: 99

**Theme:** Solitude

**Time Zone:** Between Mist Battle (Mammon vs. Chrome) and Chrome joining the Kokuyo Gang.

**Pairing/s:** a smidge of 6996, a blink of K96, C96 and MM96 (Friendship-wise, or attempting to get used to one another)

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Solitude Theme #99

It could not be helped. She was the most quiet of them all, even quieter than Chikusa. She kept to herself, clutching onto her school bag and sat as if she was trying to make herself smaller. The thirteen year old knew she was hated around Kokuyo, not to mention the fact she heard rumors already spurring especially about her hairstyle and the way she kept her uniform; rumors, which told of how she must be the current girlfriend of Rokudo Mukuro, or perhaps his new toy. This angered a certain redhead who had received orders through Mukuro, himself, to style the girl to help with his possession of the young and female illusionist.

Chikusa had acted as a wall between Chrome and her fellow Mukuro admirers. Chrome not wanting anything to do with the girls' jealousies towards her, since she knew she was only being used to command the gang. She knew she could not get the Mukuro admirers to understand that. It was hard to come up with that sort of reason. Mukuro did not want his clean reputation in school ruined. And so Chrome surrendered to the fury and jealousy of the school.

Chikusa tried to explain that Chrome was actually related to the boss of the Kokuyo gang, but it soon backfired somehow. M-M did not appreciate having to bodyguard the girl from those of her rivals, after all she too thought of Chrome as a rival for Mukuro's attention. She too bullied the girl from time to time. This left Chrome to curl more inward on herself.

Is this what her new life as Chrome Dokuro was going to be? It was rather similar to her life as Nagi and Chrome had strove to change herself for the better. She wanted friends in this school not enemies. Being an avatar of Mukuro was a lot of work especially when it put a lot of stress on her weak, fragile body. It made her doubt Mukuro's smile towards her as true even more. It made her feel more like trash than something special that Mukuro strove to use. What would happen when he was done with her? Would he throw her away or would he keep an eye on her and make sure her illusionary organs kept working?

Chrome had enough one-day.

During lunchtime, she sat the farthest away from everyone else than she had ever been before. She curled in a ball with her knapsack, clutching it to herself as she ate some of her bento. Tears were soon falling from her visible eye and her appetite dropped. She clutched her knapsack even tighter to her chest, letting the tears flow as she sobbed into the bag.

"I tried my best, Mukuro-sama. I tried to be what they wanted me to be, but I'm not you. They need you!" she sobbed. "I…I need you."

"It's going to be fine, my sweet Chrome," Mukuro's voice answered. She heard the faint bubbles about Mukuro's water prison. "You just met them and they just met you. They will eventually like you for you."

Chrome closed her eye, allowing herself to walk into her own world to see Mukuro sitting there in the grass.

"This world is yours. You have let me into this world. I won't abandon you," Mukuro said to Chrome as she walked slowly towards him. She sat down next to him. A hand whipped a way a tear from Chrome's visible eye.

"Chikusa-san's nice, Ken-san's outwardly rude to everyone, and M-M just misses you," Chrome said, in a soft voice. "Can you at least tell them you're okay?"

"That would just take too much of my power. There is so much I can do in this state," Mukuro said.

Chrome looked up at him. "Y… You can use some of what I have. Some of my own power!" she said, looking at him.

Mukuro looked at Chrome, a little startled but then chuckled. "No, I use too much of your power, dearest Chrome. You, also, have not tapped into your true power yet. There is so much more to teach you. They know I will be fine. They know I will be home soon," he said. "Just continue doing your best. You'll do fine."

Chrome nodded.

"Oh dear, the lunch bell already rang. Wake up my little Chrome," Mukuro said, and soon the world disappeared around Chrome.

Chrome opened her eye and looked around. As her master said, people were heading back into the middle school. She slid down the slide with her bento and ran back to school. This time she would be a lot stronger for Mukuro.


	5. Expectations

**Theme #33**

Expectations

It was one of those times Chrome thanked the invisible, powerful, and divine forces she was alone with Chikusa and not with anyone else from the gang. She was cleaning up the dishes and throwing away some garbage from dinner. It had been another quiet meal, except for M-M's disgusted noises at the way Ken was eating. Chikusa and her kept to their own food, trying to drown out M-M and Ken's bickering that followed. As for right now, M-M was in her room practicing her clarinet for marching band and Ken was watching television.

Chikusa handed her another plate from dinner and Chrome diligently dried it off and set it aside to place back into one of the cabinets. A smile curled at the corners of lips as she repeated the steps for doing such a chore. She offered her hand out for another of the dishes Chikusa washed.

"Dokuro-san," the monotonous voice from next to her said.

Chrome blinked and looked up at Chikusa. "Y-Yes?"

"We're done," Chikusa said. "Thank you for your help."

Chrome nodded. "Oh, um, I'm going to do my homework," she said. With that she started to turn.

"If it gets very hard to manage Mukuro's expectations, let us know," Chikusa said, aloud as Chrome stopped near the doorway to the kitchen. She turned her head so that her eye could look at the tall male over her shoulder. She blinked. "He expects a lot out of his vessels."

Chrome took a bit of time to process it before sending the dark haired male a small nod and left the kitchen. Chikusa watch the small girl rush out of the kitchen before exiting the room, himself.

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She sat by herself in the grassy hills of her world, looking up at the clouds as they slowly past by. She was in her usual white dress when coming to this world and was wearing white gauze to go with it over her right, surgically closed eye socket.

"Chikusa said I have a lot of expectations? How rude," a voice said behind her. She turned to see Mukuro standing there behind her. He moved to sit down next to her in the grass. "Funny thing is, I do not have that many expectations of those I share my power with."

"Oh," Chrome said looking out at the scenery around her.

Quite truthfully, it was not a reply Mukuro wanted or even heard from any of his vessels. It intrigued him that the girl could still keep her distance away from him and still be devoted to him at the same time. He often did the same thing as the girl was doing currently. It was beginning to very hard to keep away from talking to her. It scared him a little how he would feel when he was not around the girl. It felt weird that he wanted to know the girl a little more. Perhaps do some things differently with this vessel than he had done with Lanchia.

This girl was far fragile than Lanchia, but she shared similar feelings of the world with Mukuro. Unlike that of his other gang members, the girl in front of him was rather refreshing. The girl had an air of naïveté but at the same time it was all but an illusion. She knew she was being used solely for the purpose of watching over his plans being put into execution. She knew she was only being used to spy on the Vongola, not necessarily join it, but what really surprised him is the fact she did not exactly care. It made the girl interesting than any of his past vessels. She was indeed above any of his expectations. She was perfect; the perfect vessel and the perfect student to learn his ways as an illusionist.

"You are certainly above any of my expectations. If you were anywhere below them, I would have said my farewells to you, dearest Chrome," Mukuro said with his usual warm smile. Chrome took one peak at him and turned back to stare at the scenery around the couple. He watched her as she dismissed his warm smile, furthering his interest in the girl.

"I'd still be of use to you," Chrome said, quietly.

Mukuro looked at her as if she had read his mind. He smiled. "Yes, you would still be of use to me," he said. "Although I would have picked a better vessel if that was the case."

"Which proves you still have hope for this world," Chrome added, bringing her legs up and hugged them to her chest.

"Really?" Mukuro asked, chuckling.

Chrome looked over at him and nodded.

She was above any or all of Mukuro's expectations as a vessel. She was perfect and highly devoted, yet distant from him. She was still hiding things from him and unlike his other vessels he wanted to learn everything there was about this particular vessel.

"You'll teach me how to fight?"

"Of course, cute Chrome."


	6. Kick In the Head

Note: Is it just me or does Chrome seem a little mary-sue-ish in this one-shot?

**Kick In the Head**

**Theme # 58**

If there was something about her new life that Chrome hated was the very fact she had angry Mukuro fangirls. She was an admirer herself, since Mukuro-sama was her savior. In reality she was on equal stepping ground amongst the other girls. The other girl that the angry Mukuro fangirls were angry at was M-M, another of the Kokuyo Gang. However, these days the fangirls were slowly, but surely softening up to her. Chrome on the other hand just wanted to be left alone.

Never in her life have Chrome ever missed the life she led as Nagi more than this very moment. Still, the very thought of seeing Mukuro's soft smile made her feel warm and stronger than any of the others around her. She could not place the exact feeling that came within this hope. Despite the fact that she felt strong whenever the expert illusionist turned his attentions towards her, she felt pathetic. The feeling was slowly building as she improved with her own illusions.

In this very moment, she would like to use her newly learned illusions from Mukuro-sama. Especially when she was surrounded by M-M and her new girl friends. They were all snickering down at her, with widened grins ready to widen when they see some of the blood trickling down her arms.

In this very school, Chrome was known as "Little Suicidal Girl" and "Maso-chan". She was teased because of the blush that appeared whenever the other students embarrassed her, mostly by the ones that held an extreme hatred for her. Of course, she knew why they hated her. She was not at all the cool, calm, and collected heartthrob of the school. Nor was she even related to the expert illusionist. Yet, she wore the same exact hairstyle and had a similar style in clothes as Mukuro. But all of that were to enable possession even more of a success. She was also said to be called "Sweet Chrome" by Mukuro out of affection as M-M told the other fangirls and perhaps fanboys.

She tried to listen to what Mukuro wanted to her to do about her fellow students. However, the plans backfired in ways she would never want to describe.

Right now, was one of them. She had ran away from group of students that were racing towards her. M-M just stood there, holding her clarinet with a small smile on her face. She even waved to Chrome as if they were friends, but when Chrome hesitated, M-M teased her about her lack of friendliness towards M-M. Once the students crowded about her, she crawled out, somehow and started to run. She had turned the corner that afternoon, when she tripped over on a ball used in gym, and fell face first to the ground. There, little pathetic Chrome was caught.

She heard cackles from behind her and turned, one of her legs was scraped and the other was bleeding. Where were Chikusa and Ken to save her? They were not there. She was alone. They had already left, not caring if she would be fine. She knew she was not wanted by her two bodyguards, but it would be nice about now is if they were here. Whenever they were there, no one paid her mind. She was weakest when alone, and right now she was alone.

M-M was also a bodyguard but she only waited until the teasing got far worse before she decided to help Chrome. She was seen past the group of students that surrounded her, holding up her clarinet and playing a few scales. Today was another marching band practice for her, so she would not be able to help the dark haired girl.

Pathetic, Chrome, pathetic. When are you ever going to get strong enough to protect yourself? Is this what you want? Is this what you want your new life to consist of? They were summaries of Chrome's current thoughts as she felt a girl pull on her hair.

"Should we cut her hair short enough so she doesn't copy Rokudo-kun's?" asked a girl as she looked at the other girls.

"Nah, that's too boring, perhaps we can teach her how to cut herself!" said another girl.

"Or have her digest needles!" suggested another girl.

Chrome looked around at the group with a fearful face.

"Awww, look at pathetic, Maso-chan! She's blushing. I guess she really WANTS those needles shoved down her throat!"

Chrome closed her eye. "I'm sorry," she started to murmur. "I'm sorry…"

Mukuro-sama, there has to be a way!

She felt a large pain her cheek. Something was pressing on her face. She only saw the darkness. She could hardly see what was going on above her. It felt like it would imprint something. Was it a shoe? The pressure got off of her and she realized she had just been kicked in the head.

"I know a good way," said a girl's voice. "Strip her down and buzz cut her hair."

Chrome's eyes widened. No, no, no… She struggled against the girl's shoe but the girl was too strong. If only, if only Mukuro could help her—no, she wanted to do this on her own. She was more than ready to. Was she not? She felt someone reaching in her mind for her. She grabbed at the hand, feeling mad at herself for wanting someone to take care of this incident for her.

Chrome went limp under the girl's shoes, her one eye closed over. The girl looked down at the girl, questionably. Something was off about Chrome, but she could not sense it exactly. No one, but Tsuna and those of the Vongola could sense when Mukuro had taken over the girl's body. Not even Chikusa and Ken.

Chrome had tried to push him from seeing her uselessness. She tried to push him back so she could save his reputation, but things were not going to plan. The students around the girl were not giving her a break. And Mukuro knew it was his fault. Even the very fact that it was him, who possessed the cat, who Chrome lost her organs in an attempt to save. Someone so innocent and good, why is it that Chrome allowed herself in the presence of someone so filthy like him? She was devoted to him and he found he liked that she had wanted to fight her own battles rather than having him fight her battles for her. It was another thing he was beginning to like in his pathetically devoted, little Chrome.

"Kufufufu… is that anyway to treat someone very dear to me?" Chrome asked looking up at the girl. There was an indigo flame that hovered in front of Chrome's right eye and a smile that was only worn by the popular male in Kokuyo, was curled on the petite girl's face. The girl who had her shoe on the girl's cheek stepped back, her eyes widened as Chrome sat up. "Sweet, little Chrome, please do not take back control. They will do nothing to ruin me."

"Sweet, little Chrome… please don't take back control? What … what is this girl!" the girl nearly cried looking down at the girl.

"Humans are terrible beings, aren't they Chrome? They get jealous at the drop of a hat when," Mukuro-Chrome said, as she stood up. "I suppose the fourth Hell will do for now." Mukuro-Chrome squatted down to take out the trident from the knapsack, and twirled it around into its usual length. Mukuro-Chrome set the trident to certain position, before disappearing in a blur.

After that, the students of Kokuyo thought twice about bullying Chrome.


	7. Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb

**Theme #63**

Time past and Chrome would often race home right after school ended so she could be alone in Kokuyo Land until the boys and M-M came home. There were still a few instances where she was bullied, but other than that; Chrome could handle it on her own. She felt guilty about having Mukuro stepping in to save her, but she knew it would not be the first time he would do that and felt rather ashamed.

She felt the familiar coolness of the chain around her neck, which sported half of the Vongola Mist Ring. She squeezed the chain through her uniform's shirt, biting her bottom lip. The Varia and Vongola Ring battles were starting and instead of Mukuro, she would fight in his stead. As Mukuro said, he would help her with everything she needed before the fight. This included martial arts training, in which she was pitted up against a few of the other Kokuyo gang members. Mukuro had been a great teacher, often demonstrating in her head what would happen if she did not dodge certain attacks. Sometimes she felt nauseated when he went into step-by-step detail of such things, but it was helpful and she was able to talk to Mukuro on a more comfortable topic.

She slipped her boots off before curling up on the sofa, clutching at her bag, a small smile on her face as she closed her eyes. She will do homework later that night; after all, in a couple of hours Ken and Chikusa would enter into the home and wake her up. Not just that, but she would also be persuaded to wake by Mukuro.

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Ken and Chikusa were shocked to see Mukuro sitting there on the sofa, looking down at the homework Chrome had to do that night. Ken leapt towards him, but Mukuro held a hand up to his face and chuckled. "Chrome's asleep, Ken, don't disturb her," he said.

"So you're doing her homework?" Chikusa asked.

"Something to pass the time. She isn't talkative today," Mukuro said.

Chikusa nodded.

"You're really good at copying handwriting, Mukuro-tan," Ken said looking over Mukuro's shoulder.

"That one you forgot the negative," Chikusa said, pointing at a question on the sheet.

"Oya, oya…"

* * *

  
Note: I prefer reviews rather than favorites and alerts. This was meant to be short and sweet. The start of the Varia vs. Vongola battles start next chapter/one-shot.


	8. Danger Ahead

**Theme Number:**** 56****  
Theme:**** Danger Ahead**

**Time Zone:**** Start of the Ring Battles.**

**Pairing/s:**** 6996.**

**Disclaimer:**** There is no way I could ever come up with a re-construct of the mafia world the way Amano Akira could. I own several volumes that I bought from the nearest book store. Other than that, I do not own the series. I do fan fiction and perhaps doujinshi to amuse myself and the respective audience I aim for.**

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Danger. It is what we aim for in the mafia.

The night was cold against his vessel's skin as he stood there, cloaking Chrome and himself in a soft mist. Chikusa and Ken were near them, looking over at Chrome every now and then expecting to see Mukuro, but they were sadly mistaken. Mukuro did not feel like showing up that night. He wanted to see Chrome see what she was up against. He wants her to see how strong and scary the Varia could be. He appeared next to her, only for her to see and no one else. His hands were in his pockets as he watched Chrome wrap her master's school jacket around her torso.

She bit her lip.

She was just so nervous for the individual standing in the very bright ring. He looked weak compared to the other guy. Standing in back of him a safe distance away from the ring was four other individuals. What was missing was presumably the Lightning Guardian. On one of the individual's shoulder was an infant. Her eyes widened as she turned to Mukuro.

"Who is the baby?" she asked.

Mukuro smiled. "That would be an Arcobaleno, my dear Chrome," he answered. "One of the strongest infants and there are six more to be exact. Another of them is over there." He pointed to a white bird carrying another baby from his blonde hair. Chrome blinked as she looked over at Mukuro.

"Colonello. And there, on your boss' shoulder is Reborn—blue and yellow pacifiers respectively," he answered. "They must yield whenever a student of theirs is in trouble unless they have specific orders from their boss."

Chrome blinked. "Could that cloaked infant over there be one of them too?" She asked softly so only Mukuro could hear.

"Perhaps and perhaps not. He could very well be a child hit man of great talent," Mukuro said with a shrug.

Chrome's eye widened. "Child hit man?" she asked.

"Yes, children who are in an organized crime ring and/or mafia are said to be trained from birth to be little killing machines," Mukuro said. "I happen to be an example of such."

Chrome's eye saddened.

"Mafia families would do anything, including to their own family members to be the strongest family in the world," Mukuro shrugged. "That's another reason why I hate the mafia."

"You had the chance and you failed to kill him," Chrome stated. "You failed to kill the Vongola boss candidate."

Mukuro chuckled. "Yes, yes I did," he said. "But I will eventually."

Liar, Chrome thought looking over at Mukuro and then back at the battle that had started. The guy with the weird hairstyle had the advantage since he was wearing sunglasses. He took advantage of those advantages of their surroundings and had beaten the silver-haired male to a pulp like Chrome had feared.

Just how strong did she need to be in order to win against the Varia's Mist Guardian? Would he have the advantage over her? Did she need to depend on Mukuro's strength again?

This match and the many matches afterwards was a warning that her battle was just around the corner. She closed her eyes as the man walked up to the silver-haired male with a grin on his face.

"Now, now, dear Chrome, please look," Mukuro said with a smile. "They are to be your family."

Chrome shook her head.

"Dear Chrome, do I need to take control and make you watch?"

Chrome sighed, opening her eyes just to see the guy with the buzz cut stand up, despite sweating. Steam was coming off of him. But how, he was badly injured by that weird guy!

Mukuro smirked. "Despite the danger ahead, the Vongola do not give up," he said, as the silver-haired boy punched upwards, crushing the lights. Shards of glass fluttered down and looked to Chrome as raining sparkles. "The Sun Guardian is supposed to be a prime example of such. That Sasagawa boy has the advantage now."

Chrome looked down at the match.

And Mukuro was right.


End file.
